Thigh guard



ma i i Willman wirr-rimini, L

or sfr. ivrrseomi,

'HIGI- Application filed July 11,

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it mown that l, WILLIAM l). WHITLEY, a citizen ot the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain newr and usefulimprovement in T high Guards, oit which the ifollowing is a Jull, clear,and exact description, such as will enable other skilled in the art towhich it appertains to malte and use the same.

This invention relates to thigh guards, such as are used for protectingthe thighs olfA Vtoot ball players and other athletes from injury.

The type of' thigh guard that is now generally used by foot ball playersis composed oli a number ot sections or pieces of rigid material,usually strips oi sheet fibre, hinged together by pieces of canvas orother fabric in sueh a way that they Aform aguard or shield that hassuilicient [flexibility to coniorm approximately to the thigh of thewearer but which is rigid enough to protect the thigh 'from a blow.lWhile a thigh guard olE the construction above re'lerred to allordsprotertion against a blow or a tall, it does aiTord absolute protectionifi-ominjury 'from a cleat of another players shoe, owing to the tactthat the rigid sections of the guard are separated from each other bycanvas joints or hinges through which a cleat can easily penetrate.

rl"hei'etore, the objeet o'l my invention te provide a sectional thighguard which is equipped with means l'or preventing u. shoe cleat orVother sharp object 'treni passing through the guard at any ol' thejoints or hinges between the rigid sections ot the guard.

,lo this end l have devised a thigh guard that is composed ol a numberof rigid sections hinged together, and stiiir1 or rigid devices arrangedat the joints between said sections in such way as to prevent a cleat orother sharp object from passing through said joints, but still notinterfere with the llexibility ot the guard. The guard is adapted to beremovably mounted in a pocket or casing in the leg portion oia thetrousers of the person wearing the guard or it can be permanentlycombined with the leg portion of the' trousers. j

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view `oi a thigh guardconstructed in aecordancc with my invention.

Figure 2 is a crosssrctional view oi a porirs CORPGRATXN F MSSOUR.

GUARD.

1921. Serial No. 483,761.

tion of the thigh guard shown in Figure l; Aand Figures 3 and 4L- arecross-sectionalviews, illustrating modifications et my invention.

ln Figure l of the drawings which illustrates the preferred form of myinvention fr designates the rigid sections or a sectional thigh guard,and B designates rigid or stift' protecting devices arranged over thejoints or hinges between the sections A of the guard. rllhe guard ispreferably composed of two pieces of fabric, usually a piece of eanvasthat terms the front 4side of the guard and a piece of telt jl/ thatterms the inner side ol" the guard, and strips oli sheet libre or otherrelatively sti'lii' material arranged in pockets or casings termed bystitching' the pieces olf labric m and g/ together, thus producing aguard composed ot a number of vertically-disposed, rigid.

sections that arc hinged or iieaibly connected togi The protectingdevices l pie viously referia-ed to consist of rigid or sti'ilf devicesarranged on the front side oli the 'u rd over the hinges or jointsbetween thev d sections A ot the guard.

in the ilform of my invention shown in lfigu l and@ each oi saidprotecting devircs is 'formed by a felt strip w ot fibre or othersuitable still material arranged in a rasing u lorineil by ilolding andstitching the piece olh l'ubric fr that forms the Vfront side oll theguard., said strip et libre u being wide enough so that it will projectlaterally eier the tvfo adjacent rigid sections il. of the guard.ircorrliugly, the proterting devices .l will prevent a shoe rleat orother sharp object ironi passing through the guard at any oi" the jointsor hiugeslietween the rigid sections oli the guard, but they will notinteriore with the movement of said sections relatively to each other.

in the iorm of my invention shown in Figure 3 the ir tecting devicesarranged at the joints between the rigid sections il ol the guard aretermed by vertii*ally-disposed reeds fw arranged in casings u similar tothe casings u of the guard shown in Figure 2.

ln the torni of my invention shown in Figure d the protecting devicesare formed by strips of libre 102 ot semi-circular shape in horizontalcross section arranged in cass u? termed by doubling and stitching the.io rc that :terms the trent side ot' the guard. M

While I haveherein illustrated three different ways of forming a thighguard embodying my invention, I wish it to be understoodthat, myvinvention is notv limited to the particular constructions .hereinillustrated, as my broad idea consists of a sectional thigh guardcomposed of a number of rigid sections hinged or joined together in sucha way that said sections canmove-relati'vely to each other, and stiff orrigid protecting devices arranged on the front side of the guard at thehinges or joints between the rigid sections Iso as lto. prevent a shoespike or other. sharpV object froml passing through the guardfat any ofthe hinges or joints where thezrigid sections arev united.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim'. as new and desire tosecure by Letters Fatent is:r

LA thiolhguard composed of a number of' stiffsections hinged together;yand stili? protecting devices .separate and distinct lromsaidsectionsarranged at the Jliront side ofv the guardand extending longitudinallyo'fnthe joints between said sections for preventing .a sharp object frompenetrating or 'passingthrough any ot said joints.

1'2.,A thigh guard composed of afnumber .ofI stiff sections, hingesbetween said sections,y and .stiff` protecting devices arrangedonthewfront vside of .the guard over the joints between said sectionsand capable olf Amovin 'l in de.`endentlyof said sections.

Athighguard com osed oilV a number of pieces of relatively sti' materialarranged vertically in parallel lrelation and spaced apart, and stiffprotecting devices arranged at thev jlront sident said guard so thatthey terial arranged in said structure and separatedi'rom each other byjoints, casings said fabric structure located on the iront side lof theguard at said joints, and rigid protectingfdevices arranged in saidcasin'gs, for the purpose described. 1

6.- A thigh guard composed offtwo pieces of fabric joined together toforma series oi? large pockets, and a serieso'f small pockets arrangedbetween said large pockets, flat stripsvoll libre arranged insaid largepockets, and substantially Y,rigid protecting devices arranged insaid-small pockets, for the purpose speci-fied. ,j

7'. A thigh guard composed oa vnuniber of rigid sections IconnectedVtogether l by y flex ible hinges,andrigid protecting devices ar rangedonthe it'ront `side ol the guard in overlapping relation with saidhingesso as to prevent ashoe spike or other sharp object frompenetratingrsaid guard at the joints between said rigid sections.

wrLLiAM P. vwirizrLnY.

Certieate of (orreetiem It is hereby certified that in Letters PatentNo. 1,428,731, granted September 12, 1922, upon the application ofWilliam P. Whitley, of St. Louis, Missouri, for

an improvement in rllhigh Guards, an error appears in the printedspecification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 26, afterthe Word does insert the Word not; and that the said Letters Patentshould he read with this correction therein that the sume may conform tothe record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 31st day of Gctober, A. D., 1922.

[SEAL] KARL remise,

Aer/ng Commissz'oner of Patents.

